
Why go to a conference? More specifically, why go to a SMPS conference? How do you determine whether you should attend the regional or national SMPS conference?
SMPS conferences attract hundreds of business developers and marketers to dive into trends within our industry, offer information to better differentiate your firm from competition, and highlight information to guide firms to thrive in existing markets. Yet, how do you pick which conference to attend if you are only able to participate in one?
The good news? You will benefit by attending any conference! However, there are a few different things to consider when making your decision!
Here are just a few reasons to attend Build Business: it is the only national business development, marketing and management conference for the design and building industry; you will expose yourself and your firm to top marketers and business developers throughout the entire country; you learn about the top trends in our industry from around the U.S; renew your passion for A/E/C marketing and business development; increase your referral business and gain direct access to the decision-makers in the client organizations in hot markets!
Here are a handful of reasons to head to the Southwest Regional SMPS conference: you will meet hundreds of marketers and business developers who are located within your own region; you will learn about the hot trends closer to home; renew your passion for A/E/C marketing and business development and build relationships with more members from within your own chapter!
Check out some of my favorite takeaways from Build Business and some of our members’ key takeaways from the Southwest Regional Conference.
Five Great Takeaways from Build Business: Synthesis
1. Don’t sell yourself short and be ambitious!
No one likes to be asked a question they don’t know the answer to. Saying “I don’t know” or “No” can leave you feeling uninformed or behind. Instead, try incorporating the word “yet.”
For instance, if someone asks you if you are proficient in Adobe Illustrator and you aren’t, try answering with, “not yet” instead of with ”no.”
2. The what, who and how are the most important elements of a proposal.
The most important pieces to the proposal are the cover letter, fee and resumes. Selection panels want to know what it is you plan to accomplish (cover letter), with who (the team) and how much is this going to cost (the fee).
3. Be in permanent beta mode.
We’ve all seen the reference ‘beta mode.’ Companies will often label new products as “beta phase” or “beta testing” to emphasize that the product is not complete and improvements are on the way. Apply this to yourself!
Keep learning, stay relevant and train your mind to be in permanent beta mode. Remember that your career is a work in progress.
4. The best qualities of a great leader:
Great leaders have strong convictions, develop visions, develop high performance culture, convince rather than control, and are continually learning.
5. Most often, management of ourselves and how well we manage relationships with coworkers determines success or failure in a job.
It is so important to be self-aware! It is easy to say what others could be doing better, but have you taken a second to evaluate yourself and your attitude lately? Managing your relationships with your coworkers is important. If you build that relationship early on, you will trust each other and work better together as a team.
Five Great Takeaways from Southwest Regional Conference
1. “An RFQ/RFP is not a subpoena – you do not have to respond.”
Sometimes it feels like we are blindly throwing darts at a dartboard, hoping one of them will stick. We can fall into the trap of responding to every RFQ or RFP that is sent our firms’ way. However, it is important to look at the RFQ/RFP and decide whether it makes sense for your company to submit. Then, set up a go/no-go meeting to help determine that final decision. Remind your teammates that it’s not a subpoena, and you do not have to respond.
2. Learn, Do, Master, Teach.
Many of us are in roles in which we set up conferences, training sessions or even interview preparation meetings. When determining learning objectives for a conference or training session, you want to cover all types of learning styles. The three objective types are affective, cognitive and behavioral:
- Affective - relates to moods, feelings and attitudes
- Cognitive – of or relating to cognition/learning
- Behavioral – involving, relating to or emphasizing hands-on learning
3. You have the power!
We all have power – whether it’s positional or personal power and a corresponding weapon of influence. Leverage your power to do something positive and position yourself as an expert.
4. The 5-50-100 Rule.
Turn your relationships into opportunities! Of 150 connections that we are able to maintain, 100 are peripheral, 50 should be strategic partners, and five should be trusted advisors that help you support your journey fully!
5. Focus on how great your client is, not how great you are
Before you start a proposal, ask yourself a few questions:
- How will you show the client your passion for this project?
- What’s the client’s vision for the project?
- How will you use your IQ to connect with the client?
- How will you use positive attitude to come across as confident, not arrogant and make you potential client at ease with who they are?
- What story will you share that exemplifies you and your companies’ integrity?
If you’re starting to see the value that SMPS Conferences can bring to you and your firm, now is the time to speak to your employer and plan/budget for the upcoming events in 2017-2018. The next Build Business Conference will July 12 – 14, 2017 in Indianapolis, IN. For more information, visit: www.smpsbuildbusiness.org/build-business2017/. The next Southwest Regional Conference will be in January 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Keep a look out on www.smpsswrc.org for more details in the coming months.
If you need more concrete data to convince your employer, check out this article written by Cricket Robertson, Immediate Past President and CPSM, about how to earn a greater ROI on your conference attendance here.
Ashley Black
Marketing Administrator, Ryan Companies US, Inc.
Ashley joined the AEC industry in January 2015 and became a member of SMPS shortly after. She is the current Blog Chair and a member on the hospitality committee. Ashley loves hot yoga, basketball, cooking and spending time with her newborn niece, Halle.
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